Pope Francis’ radio interview covered many subjects. One subject was about ecological issues. The interviewer Carlos Herrera said to Pope Francis that “you admitted a few years ago ecological issues were of no interest to you. Now your Holiness has changed, for you are one of the world leaders who speak out most on this issue, on the abuses committed against the Earth. Has the ecological choice made you enemies?” Francis said in 2007 at the Conference of Latin American Bishops (CELAM) “I heard the Brazilian bishops talk about preserving nature, the ecological problem, the Amazon … They insisted, insisted, insisted, and I wondered what this had to do with evangelization. That’s what I felt. I didn’t have the faintest idea… That shocked me. When I returned to Buenos Aires, I became interested, and slowly I began to understand something … And then I understood more. And somehow, I realized that I had to do something and then I had the idea of writing something as a magisterium (official teaching) because … there are so many people of good will who do not understand… So, to give some catechesis, (teaching of the faith) on this, I summoned a group of scientists to explain to me the real problems; not the hypotheses, but the real thing. They made me a nice catalogue and rightly so. I passed it on to theologians who reflected on it. And that is how Laudato sί came about.” It came out before the Paris summit. Francis said that that meeting “was the summum (religion and philosophy) in becoming globally aware.” Pope Francis said after that “fear set in. And slowly, in subsequent meetings, they went backward. I hope that Glasgow will now raise its sights a bit and bring us more in line.” In the interview Pope Francis said he would be attending the climate change conference COP26 in Glasgow to be held from October 31, to November 12, 2021, but due to his recent surgery he has decided to send Cardinal Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State in his place. On another subject, Francis was asked about Italian soccer. He said “I’m getting to know things a little bit. There is a lot of talk about soccer (in the Vatican).” He was asked what kind of a soccer player he was. He said “I was a sick. They called me ‘el pata dura’ (stiff leg) that’s why they always put me in the goal, that’s where I defended myself more or less well.” Francis ended the interview by saying “ A big greeting to those who are listening, and I ask to pray for me, that the Lord will continue to protect me and take care of me, because if He leaves me on my own, I am a mess. And to you all, God bless you. Thank you.”
